Study: mRNA Vaccines & Renal Complications
- Simian Practicalist
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
An editorial by J.M. Orient titled “Negative Evidence: Renal Adverse Events Following COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination” was published in the Winter 2025 issue of Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (Volume 30 Number 4).
The article is about 10 pages, including references. After the introduction in which the author simplistically discusses the conflict of so-called Left and Woke vs Right, she mentions the approach that conveniently favors the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines despite concerns of their safety, including the possibility of renal disorders.
Unlike many papers in which the authors don’t provide much background—some academics just don’t care—this author covers some basics about kidney physiology and function: glomerular filtration, tubular reabsorption, and tubular secretion. This is followed by some basics of kidney injury.
The kidneys are vital organs that perform numerous homeostatic functions. They maintain a stable extracellular environment by removing metabolic waste (like urea, creatinine, and uric acid) and regulating water and electrolyte excretion to balance intake and production. They adjust water, sodium, potassium, and hydrogen levels mainly through changes in tubular reabsorption or secretion. Moreover, they secrete hormones that regulate blood flow (renin, prostaglandins, bradykinin), red blood cell production (erythropoietin), and mineral metabolism (calcitriol).
Some of the possible mechanisms for kidney injury associated with COVID-19:
Direct viral invasion (by binding to the ACE2 in renal tissue).
Systemic inflammation and cytokine storm.
Endothelial dysfunction and hypercoagulability.
Organ crosstalk (as “[s]evere respiratory failure and cardiac dysfunction … can lead to renal hypoperfusion and hypoxic injury”).
Renal complications are “strongly correlated” to disease severity. They are rare in mild and moderate cases but common in severe cases (16%–36%).
The author makes the point that there is no excuse for a lack of safety testing and data regarding renal complications since “immune-mediated kidney disease occurring after vaccination is neither new nor unique to the COVID-19 vaccines”. For example, the flu vaccine,
…one of the most widely administered vaccines globally, has been associated in available case reports with the development of nephrotic syndrome (due to MCD, membranous nephropathy, or AIN) and pauci-immune glomerulonephritis, a form of vasculitis.
There is an undeniable temporal association with renal complications after receiving these COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, typically within days.
A systematic review of 130 published cases found that 69% were new-onset diseases, while 31% were relapses of pre-existing conditions.
The author discusses the various conditions. Not surprisingly, she mentions IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disease.
IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the second commonly reported glomerular disease in temporal association with COVID-19 vaccination, accounting for about 37.5% of cases in a major review. The classic presentation is the sudden onset of visible, or gross, hematuria (cola-colored urine), often accompanied by flu-like symptoms such as fever and myalgia. The key feature is the extremely short latency period: symptoms typically appear within 1 to 3 days of vaccination. This rapid onset is highly characteristic of an anamnestic (memory) immune response, strongly suggesting the activation of a pre-existing disease process rather than the initiation of a new one. A crucial distinction in the literature is that a substantial proportion of IgAN cases (approximately 40% in one review) occur in patients with a known history of the disease, representing a clear relapse. Among the cases classified as “new onset,” many patients were found to have had prior, undocumented microscopic hematuria or proteinuria, suggesting the vaccine merely “unmasked” a subclinical or undiagnosed condition.
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